Books I Read in July

Hi!

I did well at the beginning of the month and then Snapchat really took off so my reading went to the dogs towards the middle and end of July. I was still reading at night but not as much, plus I was doing some cross stitch projects and devouring Grey's Anatomy.

The total for July was 15, which is surprising, because I didn't think I read that many. Some of those were just a few hours long though, so it's not as massive as you might think.

ARCs

I've been trying to cut down the amount of ARCs (Advance Reading Copies) on my Netgalley shelf for ages - some of these have been approved since last October and were just sitting there. I made a real effort to try and get the shelf cleared - then requested a load more, oops....anyway, ten of my reads this month were ones I got from Netgalley.

Buzz Books 2015 Young Adult Fall/Winter by Publishers Lunch

I love these compilations. They come out twice a year in both YA and Adult format, and they bring previews of several upcoming releases from both prominent and new authors. This one had 20 extracts, favourites included Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon and Dumplin' by Julie Murphy, both of which I have yet to read in full. I did request a few full books and was approved, but it's also a great way to figure out what to avoid - handy for someone like me who tends to buy into hype when it comes to books. And makeup. And candles. And pretty much everything. 

Buzz Books 2015 Adult Fall/Winter by Publishers Lunch

This is the adult version, and has 33 decent extracts. Tender by Belinda McKeon is included, as well as the new one from Mitch Albom, The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto. The Social Network star Jesse Eisenberg's debut Bream Gives Me Hiccups was a surprising favourite here, it's a Sedaris-esque satirical look at social situations. You'll also find some upcoming novels by Patrick Ness, Geraldine Brooks and Alice Hoffman. It covers 14 fiction, 10 debut fiction, and 10 non-fiction books including Dick Van Dyke's latest book on ageing. I ended up with 13 of the 33 either requested or pre-ordered in full. Oops. 

One by Sarah Crossan
This is a YA (young adult) novel about conjoined twin sisters Tippi and Grace. They have been homeschooled for 14 years, but now must enter mainstream High School after the funding for homeschooling has run out. "Normal is the Holy Grail and only those without it know its value". I enjoyed this, but I felt it was a little over hyped. It's written in poetic verse, making it a quick read - this wasn't at all off-putting but I just found it hard to connect with the characters. I am very much in the minority though, so do give it a go. The writing is beautiful.

Are you Still There? by Sarah Lynn Scheerger
I read a preview of this in one of the Buzz Books collections and thought it looked good. It's another YA, about a very ordinary High School student named Gabi who helps to run a teen helpline after a student plants a bomb in the school. We also get the POV of the bomber, or "The Stranger" here - I was totally wrong about who the bomber was. This is very cheesy, but I did enjoy it because it reminded me of the Point Horror books I loved as a teenager. Give it a miss if that's not your thing.

Are You Watching Me? by Sinéad Crowley
This is the second novel from Sinéad. We revisit Detective Claire Boyle, first seen in last year's Can Anybody Help Me?. She is now Mum to a small baby, and her marriage is strained due to the pressure of being new parents with job commitments. This book focuses on twentysomething Liz McClafferky, the reluctant public face of Tír na nÓg, a refuge of sorts for elderly men who have no other source of interaction in the community. As one of the men is found dead and a link to the centre is discovered, Liz has to come to terms with her past and Claire has to figure out how to have it all. I enjoyed this, not as much as the author's first book, but as "the difficult second novel" it was a worthwhile read.

This Raging Light by Estelle Laure
This was another Buzz Books extract that I ended up requesting. The protagonist, Lucille, is 17 and left in charge of her 9 year old sister Wren after their mother goes AWOL. Their Dad is in residential care after having a mental health incident a few months earlier. Lucille is trying to keep on top of things and deal with the prospect that her mother might not come back, so now is definitely not the time to fall in love. This was sweet, it sounds a bit shite from my synopsis but the writing was sharp, the characters were likeable, and it wasn't a sweety-teeny-googly eyed romantic book. Really enjoyed this, the teenagers didn't make the best decisions at times, but if you can't make a few mistakes when you're a teenager, when can you? It was just different enough to be very enjoyable, and the ending was brave.

The Lost Child by Ann Troup
Elaine's mother has died, so Elaine has returned to the town her mother grew up in to scatter her ashes. While she's there, she befriends a tearaway teenager named Brodie. Brodie's sister disappeared 30 years ago when she was three, and Elaine becomes involved in Brodie's attempt to find out what happened to her. If you've read any kind of thrillers or mysteries at all you'll spot "the twist" a mile off, as I did. That's one of the perils of reading a lot so it wasn't necessarily off-putting, but the writing was a little Joey-Tribbiani-with-thesaurus. Fifteen words where one would do. Not bad by any means, just snooze when you've seen it done a million times and done a lot better.

Edgewater by Courtney Sheinmel
This had a real We Were Liars vibe off it (not the same plot, though). Rich family secrets, strange goings-on, and cover-ups. Lorrie Hollander is attending a prestigious equestrian program for advanced riders when she is removed immediately and sent home because her Aunt hasn't paid her fees. Lorrie goes home to sort it out - and realises that things at home are much worse than she could ever have thought. Enter rich boy love interest and a shit-ton of family secrets and you have one slick, well-written novel about everything going to pot behind a glossy exterior. Really enjoyed this.

My So-Called (Love) Life by A.L. Michael
Books like this are like chewing gum - not particularly satisfying, but sometimes you just bloody want chewing gum. The main character's name is Tigerlily, which was off-putting, but essentially this is a feel-good story about a woman who makes positive changes in her life after her fiancée left her a few days before her wedding. Ollie, the love interest here was a total ride, and while I didn't really like Tigerlily, I appreciated her determination and desire to grab life by the balls after wasting time with someone who didn't appreciate her as she was. Perfect fluff for a rainy afternoon.

Where Secrets Sleep by Marta Perry
Have you ever read Amish fiction? Me neither! This was set in Dutch Pennsylvania, in a part Amish community and centred around Allison, who has inherited a converted mansion from her recently deceased Grandmother. The mansion is home to several small businesses and shops, including an Amish quiltmaker named Sarah, with whom she strikes up a friendship. There's also a handsome single Dad carpenter named Jamie and a bit of small-town rivalry thrown in. This was okay - it was like one of those Lifetime movies I'd get sucked in to if I were doing nothing of a Sunday, but it ran a little long for me. Still, it was okay.

Rick O'Shea Book Club

This month, the two book club picks were Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Harvest by Jim Crace. Both are on the shortlist for the 2015 IMPAC Dublin Literary Awards. I bought Harvest for the Kindle but I didn't get to it, I had Americanah in paperback so I read that. 

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I thoroughly enjoyed the story of Ifemelu, a lifestyle blogger who moved to America to study and who is now returning to Nigeria. The book is written in 6 parts, some of those are told from the POV of Ifemelu's High School sweetheart Obinze, a young man who had planned to follow Ifemelu to America but ran into some problems. I just really, really enjoyed Adichie's writing and how it flowed, even though I didn't particularly like Ifemelu or Obinze as people. The writing is powerful and it taught me a lot about Nigerian culture and racism. 

Fiction

Summer at Shell Cottage by Lucy Diamond

This is the holiday read of 2015 for me. It's easy to read, the characters are well developed, and the story flows well. It's the story of several different female generations from the same family, and how they cope with various issues in their lives. Olivia is recently widowed and a little bit lost after discovering her husband was hiding something from her. Freya, a GP, has made a mistake at work and fear that her job will be on the line. Harriet, Olivia's daughter in law, feels like she doesn't really belong in the family, and finds out something about her husband - does keeping secrets run in the family? Throw in a teenage girl with a secret (and potentially dangerous) relationship and wrap it all up in Shell Cottage - "The generous-sized cottage, painted a soft barley colour, with a thatched roof and a poppy-scarlet front door, above which a scallop shell had been carved into the stone lintel. Behind the house you could see a flower-filled garden, which looked very much as if it might lead straight onto sand dunes and then a pale, curving beach in the distance." - and you have an incredibly enjoyable summer read. Really, really liked this. 

The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman by Denis Thériault

I picked this up in the recent Kindle sale, it's quite a short book and took around an hour to read. Bilodo is a 27 year old postman who has no real human interaction apart from his work colleagues. He is alone, but he's not lonely - he has taken to steaming people's letters open before delivering them and has become obsessed with an ongoing correspondance between a man in his local town, and a woman, Ségoléne, in Gibraltar. When tragedy strikes and the man is killed, Bilodo decides to continue the correspondance in his place........the whole thing takes a very odd turn here, although it's set in Montreal, it's very Asian and reads more like a Japanese novel. Really quirky and the ending left my mouth hanging open! I'm glad I got it.

The Baby by Lisa Drakeford

I saw someone talk about this on youtube - possibly Amber - but it looked interesting. A young girl gives birth on the bathroom floor at her friend's 17th birthday party, and the girl has to deal with the repurcussions along with the baby's father and their three other friends. Every person involved gets a chapter, and though it had a completely unnecessary "twist", I did enjoy it. 

Non-Fiction

It's Not What You Think by Chris Evans

All I really know about Chris Evans is that he presented The Big Breakfast and TFI Friday on Channel 4 when I was younger. I watched both, but never really gave Chris much thought. With the recent TFI Friday special, I spotted this on sale for £0.99 on kindle and decided to give it a go. It's one of the most enjoyable autobiographies I've read, it covers the period from Chris' childhood right up to the early 00s when he purchased Virgin radio from Richard Branson. Every chapter starts with a Top Ten list, the number one being the topic for that chapter. The chapters are between 1 and 5 minutes long. Chris is easy to read - he's warm, funny, and acknowledges when he has been a bit of an arse. He's respectful of ex wives and partners, and comes across as a genuinely nice person. I downloaded the follow-up to this immediately after finishing, I really like his writing style. 

So, there you go. If I can cut back on the Snapchat and come out of Booktubeathon 2015 alive, hopefully August will be a good reading month too!

Booktube-a-thon 2015 - Information & TBR!

Hi!

You may remember me talking about Booktube-a-thon last year, but if not, here's a quick synopsis. Booktube-a-thon is a week long readathon, hosted by Ariel Bissett and a host of other booktubers. It's a week of challenges, quizzes, reading sprints, and general bookish fun. You don't have to be a booktuber or book blogger to join in, anyone of any age can take part, it's all about challenging yourself to read more and having some fun along the way. This year, it begins at the stroke of midnight TONIGHT your time, wherever you are in the world. That's August 3rd, and it ends at the stroke of midnight your time on August 9th, next Sunday night.

Find out more:

Official Booktube-a-thon Youtube Channel
Official Booktube-a-thon Twitter
Official Booktube-a-thon Instagram

My Booktube-a-thon posts from last year are here.

This year, Ariel has set a whole new host of challenges! Here they are:

I've been putting my TBR pile together for a few days now, and here are my choices. You don't have to pick a different book for every challenge, you can double up - for example, if you have a book you really want to read that has blue on the cover? That's challenges 6 AND 1 completed.

• A book with blue on the cover: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
• A book by an author who shares the first letter of your last name: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (think it's about time, don't you?)
• Someone else's favourite book: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (Margaret from Bleach House Library's favourite book)
• The last book you acquired: Memoirs of a Fruitcake by Chris Evans

• Finish a book without letting go of it: Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret by Judy Blume (should be able to do this in one sitting when the kids are in bed)
• A book you really want to read: 172 Hours on the Moon by Johann Harstad
• A seventh book: The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan

If you're taking part in Booktube-a-thon 2015 please let me know! I know that Chloe, Breige, Paula and possibly Róisín are taking part so do keep an eye on their blogs too. My 10 year old is going to try some of the challenges too, I love seeing children read so I'll let him write his own little review next week on how he got on. 

Let's do this!!

Books I Read in June

Hi!

So, June was a really good reading month for me. I pretty much let TV fall by the wayside altogether so I got a lot more read at night - it has been too hot to read during the day so we've been going for more walks. June's total was 15 - but it's more like 14 and a half, because I didn't finish one (hate doing that, but life's too short for bad books).

Rick O'Shea Book Club

The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney
This was the book club pick for May, but I had to wait for the library to buy it in for me (libraries do that, you know. If you want a new book that they don't have, they'll buy it). It's a Love/Hate type story set in modern day Cork City that centres around the lives of a drug dealer and his girlfriend, a prostitute, a gangster's mother - and digs deeper into the links they share and the secrets they hide. Brilliant read.

Spill Simmer Falter Wither by Sara Baume
This was one of the June book club picks (the other being The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August, which I tried to read last year and gave up on). The title is a play on the four seasons of the year. The book follows the story of one year in a man's life - a man who doesn't have much social interaction, and who gets himself a dog that nobody else wants. They soon become as thick as thieves - but when that relationship is threatened, he decides to take the dog on a road trip of sorts. This is dark, it's uneasy at times, but the writing is breathtaking. In terms of plot, there's not a whole pile here - but the writing alone is worth it. It reminded me a little of Donal Ryan or Eimear McBride at times but much easier to read.

Books to Review

For The Love of Martha by Maria Murphy
I was kindly sent this to review from Poolbeg - it's a timeslip novel about an 18 year old orphan named Martha, who is living with her cousin as a Governess. The family decide to move to Carissima, a sprawling home in Co. Monaghan - putting an end to Martha's romance with a local handsome doctor. Meanwhile, we're also following the life of Juliet in London in 2010 - she is a photographer, and is seeing the man who currently owns Carissima. This lacked something for me - it took ages to get going and while I liked Martha's story, I wasn't bothered about Juliet.

The Number 8 by Joel Arcanjo
I requested this on Netgalley because the premise sounded amazing - a group of strangers in New Zealand, stuck on a tour bus, and one of them could be a killer? Yes please!! Unfortunately, very little of it was set on the bus so it lacked the claustrophic element necessary to build tension. The descriptions of the tour areas were fantastic, but the characters and plot were dull.

Date With a Rockstar by Sarah Gagnon
Another one from Netgalley - I enjoyed this way more than I should have. Set in the distant future, Monet O'Neal is suffering from the disease Fluxem. There's a cure, but it costs thousands of dollars. Monet applies for a place on a Reality TV show to meet and date rockstar Jeremy Bane, and win $30,000 - but what will happen if anyone realises she has Fluxem? Will the producers dig up any more secrets about her? Loved this. The Reality TV setting was brilliant and it was cheesy as hell, but it was written well enough to carry the story.

Seen the Movie? Now Read the Book!

One of my main 2015 reading goals was to read more original book versions of movies. This month, I read three.

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Oh my GOD why have I not read this before now?! It's amazing. It was addictive - a sweeping, passionate, turbulent tale of Scarlett O'Hara and her determination to succeed. Set pre, during and post the Civil War era, I could not put it down. It's racist and hard to stomach in places, I had to keep reminding myself when it was written and when it was set - but it's one of the best reading experiences I've had in my adult life. Absolutely adored it.

Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine
Yikes. Where to start with this one - Mrs. Doubtfire starring Robin Williams will always be one of my favourite family films. It was one of the first I ever saw in a cinema, and it holds a lot of great memories about a favourite person from my childhood - so I was eager to read the book. It is horrible. The parents have horrific fights in front of their children, they play the children like pawns, and there's a horrible undercurrent of fear and worry where the children are concerned. Much like when I read Skipping Christmas by John Grisham - I was shocked at the lack of warmth, heart, or humour. The children know all along that their Dad is the new housekeeper - probably because his disguise consists of wellies, a pink coat and a turban. Absolutely one to avoid, watch the movie instead.

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
This isn't a movie yet - but it's coming, and it will star Jennifer Lawrence in the lead role. Based on the true story of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, the last woman to be publicly executed in Iceland in 1830, this is the story of Agnes' last few months at a nearby family farm where she has been sent to wait out her death sentence. Convicted of the brutal murder of two men, Agnes is silent about her crimes - until she begins to open up to her Spiritual Advisor, Tóti, and the lady of the house, Margrét. Agnes' story is so tragic and so sad, I knew what was coming but I didn't want to believe it - it was haunting, beautiful, and the eerie landscape of Iceland was a character in itself. 100% recommended.

Kindle First

Sugar by Deirdre Riordan Hall
The title refers to Mercy Gracia, or Sugar, as she is known. She is a very overweight Puerto Rican/Polish teenager who lives with her disgusting physically and verbally abusive brother and her mother, who has not gotten out of bed in months due to her increasing size. Sugar cares for her mother, but in the meantime, doesn't care for herself. When she makes a friend, something she once thought impossible, things begin to change and she realises that she must find the strength to make permanent changes in several areas of her life. This isn't a makeover book, it's difficult to read at times and I HATE the event that happens towards the end (kick a girl when she's down, why don't you) but it was a worthwhile read.

Thrillers

The Exit by Helen Fitzgerald
Catherine is 23, and gets a job in a care home - mainly to get her mother off her back. She doesn't like old people, she's not bothered, she just wants the money. Rose Price is 82, a resident of the care home and a former children's author. Rose is convinced that something sinister is going on at the care home - but nobody will listen to her. She enlists the help of a begrudging Catherine to try and find out what's going on. I thought this would be another Elizabeth is Missing but it was far from that - Catherine as a protagonist is a breath of fresh air, she's not exactly likeable but she's a strong character. Her relationship with Rose is brilliant - this is quite dark, and maybe not one to go for if you have a weak stomach.

I Let You Go by Clare Mackintosh
Little Jacob Jordan is killed in a hit and run when his mother lets go of his hand to cross the street. Wracked with guilt, she flees. Jenna goes to a remote village in Wales to try and move on with her life, but still can't get over what happened to Jacob. Meanwhile, DI Ray Stevens is working on the hit and run case, trying to find the driver, while dealing with personal issues of his own. But Jenna's past is about to catch up with her, and it could prove fatal. Absolutely 100% the best thriller I've read this year. Clever, shocking, frightening, tense - this is everything a thriller should be. Read it.

Young Adult

Immaculate by Katelyn Detweiler
One night when Mina is finishing up her shift in the Pizzeria where she works after school, a strange old lady comes in and tells her that she will have a baby. Mina laughs it off - she has a boyfriend of two years but she's a virgin - so how can she be pregnant? But she is......... This reminded me of that movie Saved! at times. It's not religious, but it does discuss faith (not in a preachy way). The author took the story of the Immaculate Conception and put it bang smack in the middle of High School in the social media era. Really good, unique concept, and enjoyable.

Lies Like Love by Louisa Reid
This has been on my Kindle for ages - it's about 16 year old Audrey Morgan and her battle with depression and self harm. Or is it? Audrey, her mother, and little brother have moved to a new area after a fire destroyed their home. Audrey has a history of self-harm, and her mother hopes that the move will bring a new beginning for them all. Leo is staying on a nearby farm - he is 17, and has had experience with mental health issues himself, so he immediately feels like Audrey is a kindred spirit. As their relationship begins to blossom, all may not be what it seems.......I really don't want to spoil this for anyone, so I'll just say - when the penny dropped, it hit me smack between the two eyes and I lay awake in bed with my heart thundering. It's really, really good.

Extraordinary Means by Robyn Schneider
Lane Rosen is a new resident at Latham House, a boarding-school slash Sanitorium for teenagers with a total drug resistant strain of TB. It's set in the modern day, it's not dystopia, it just happens to take place in a Sanitorium. Sadie is also a resident - Lane and Sadie know each other from Summer Camp a few years ago. But is there any point in getting close to someone at Latham when survival odds aren't in your favour? Full to the brim with witty dialogue and Harry Potter references, this was enjoyable enough.

Did Not Finish

Breakable by Aimee L. Salter
Also published as Every Ugly Word. In my copy, the lead character was called Stacy. In the subsequent editions, she is called Ashley. Stacy is in therapy after "an incident". We're not privy to the circumstances yet, but we're going along for the ride as Stacy discusses the months leading up to the incident with her therapist. Having gone through horrific bullying, Stacy turns to herself - quite literally. She sees an older version of herself in the mirror. "Older Me" seems to know all about Stacy's future. Here's where it got enough for me: I like magical realism. A lot. I love the idea of your future self appearing in the mirror to tell you what's going on. But she doesn't tell her anything useful. The bullying - when Stacy's mother finds abusive texts on her phone, she asks what Stacy did to provoke such a reaction. The therapist asks about her role in her own abuse. Her friend asks her to try and make friends with the bullies. Not at any point in the first 14 chapters does anyone pull Stacy aside and say - This is not OK. And there I left it - victim blaming ain't my cup of tea.

So that's it! Productive by all accounts, but I've about seventeen programmes to watch on Sky+ at this stage. I'll update the 2015 book page (here) with the covers, as usual you can click on a cover to go to my full Goodreads review.

Bring it on, July!

Books I Read in May

Hi!

I did really well during the first half of May, then it all went to pot. I think I lost the will to read after getting through one of my book club choices - more about that in a minute - I managed to finish 12, and despite vowing not to pick any more books up, I requested more from Netgalley and borrowed from the library. If anyone has a couple of hours going spare, send 'em my way...

Book Club

There were two choices this month for the Rick O'Shea book club - The Glorious Heresies  by Lisa McInerney (I'm reading that at the minute) and this:

I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes
I've seen so many glowing reviews of this "thriller" - I thought it was absolute shite. It was the type of book that a young Tom Cruise would have written aged 15 as a screenplay with himself in the lead. It was too long, there were two separate storylines that didn't connect at all, and the brilliantly intelligent wonderful marvellous (according to him, anyway) Pilgrim relied on coincidence and luck to solve a crime. I hated it, and didn't find it thrilling at all.

Books-to-Movies

One thing I wanted to do in 2015 was read more books that have been turned into movies. I love seeing the differences and reading the original storylines. With that in mind, I read three.

The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin
Walter and Joanna Everhart move to a new town, where Joanna notices that the women are all like clones of each other - vapid, obsessed with pleasing their husbands, with no personalities of their own. Walter soon gets involved in the local Men's Association much to Joanna's horror, but by the time she realises something is very wrong, it could be too late. I liked this, I'm familiar with the movie but not the book, so the book was a little more reliant on imagination than the visuals used in the movie. I'd have loved some more insight into why the men did what they did.

The D.U.F.F by Kody Keplinger
I had this on my kindle for a while, but it was Paula's review that prompted me to read it. Written when the author was 17, this is the story of 17 year old Bianca, who is told she is the "DUFF" (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) of her peer group by "man whore" Wesley. Bianca and Wesley end up shagging a bit, there's an alcoholic and some bad parenting thrown in to the mix, and more shagging, but overall this was hard to review because there wasn't much of a plot. I've been told that the movie version is different, and I like Mae Whitman, so I'll give it a go - but I wouldn't recommend the book.

EDIT: I watched the movie after typing this post up and it was MUCH better than the book. Bianca and Wesley were more likeable, the storyline was completely different, and it was really witty. Plus, Allison Janney. One of the very rare times that I've preferred the movie to the book!

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
The "Me" of the title is Greg, a 17 year old student who knows this is a book, he has written it. Earl is his slightly unhinged friend who likes to make movies with him. The Dying Girl is their classmate Rachel, who used to be Greg's friend, and who is dying with cancer. Greg's mother forces him to be a good friend to Rachel, so he and Earl decide to make her a movie - The Worst Movie Ever Made. This was everything I look for in a YA book - clever, witty, funny, touching, but not twee and no insta-love. I really liked it.

Paperbacks

Normal by Graeme Cameron
Have you ever read a story about a serial killer who kidnaps women, keeps them in his basement, kills other women, and rooted for him not to get caught? Me neither - up until this book. A few chapters in, it became apparent that this was no ordinary thriller, it has a darkly comic element to it which is hard to achieve given the subject matter, but parts of it made me laugh out loud (I felt really bad for laughing) - a very clever thriller.

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
Alice has a fall in the gym and takes a knock to the head. She is happily married, expecting her first baby (nicknamed "the sultana"), and is 29 years old. Only - she isn't. It's 2008, not 1998. "The Sultana" is now a moody, sullen nine-year-old and has two siblings. Alice's beloved husband isn't speaking to her. Something's funny with her sister, and she has absolutely no idea what has happened over the past ten years. Could it be the best thing that has ever happened to her? Loved this, very enjoyable read, but could be triggering for anyone who has experienced a miscarriage, as there's another person's story told here too and it gets very emotional.

Wonder by RJ Palacio
Wonder is the story of August (Augie), who was born with a severe facial deformity. Home-schooled up to the age of ten, it's time for Augie to join children his own age at school. Told from several points of view, this is heartwarming and a lesson in how to treat others and how your behaviour can affect others. I passed this on to my 10 year old and he devoured it, this should be compulsory reading in schools.

Non-Fiction

Beautiful Ever After by Katie Piper
Katie's second book, focusing on her move away from home after her recovery from her acid attack. I picked this up by accident - I thought it was her first book, but I'm glad I got this one instead, because it was addictive reading, I wanted Katie to find happiness so badly, I cried at some of the stories about her feeling lonely and trying to find someone to spend her life with. Those of you who follow Katie on social media will know how this ends - but it's a very worthwhile read.


Books to Review

Together Apart by Natalie Martin
Adam and Sarah are blissfully happy - until Adam proposes to Sarah and she says no. What follows is the revelation that Sarah has a deep, dark secret in her past that she is afraid Adam will find out. Written from both Sarah and Adam's points of view, with some of Sarah's old diaries thrown in, this was okay. I found bits of it very disturbing, and the overall "big secret" to be in bad taste, but I suppose things like this do happen - I didn't like either of the main characters, I did feel sorry for Sarah, but I wondered why she had never revealed her secret before. I was granted a request to read this via Netgalley.

Kindle

I read three other books on kindle during May:

The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce
I read the prequel The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry last month, so I was eager to read Queenie's side of the story while she waited for her old friend Harold Fry to walk from one end of the country to the other in order to "save" her from dying of cancer by giving her something to look forward to. While I did enjoy it, I thought the route taken was a little disappointing given the lack of a romantic element in the first book. I couldn't say I liked Queenie all that much - but I loved the present-day setting of the nursing home and all the great characters there. There is a twist near the end that made me want to fling this out the nearest window, but apart from that it was enjoyable and Rachel Joyce is an excellent storyteller.

The Lie by C.L. Taylor
The tale of a girls' holiday gone wrong - reminiscent of The Beach or  Brokedown Palace, this is about a group of four friends who go on a holiday to Nepal. Something horrific happens and only two return - Emma and Al. Five years later, Emma is now living under an assumed name and working at an animal sanctuary. Nobody knows about her past, not even her boyfriend. But someone does - and they're going to awfully great lengths to get Emma's attention... this flits back and forth between the present day and the holiday. I really, really enjoyed the parts set in Nepal, but the present-day stuff fell flat for me. While I could deal with parts that were far-fetched, some of it just reached ridiculous heights. As I said in my Goodreads review, if Simon Cowell himself had appeared in front of Emma with a knife I wouldn't have batted an eyelid. The conclusion was rushed and not explained well, but it was still a page-turner and I'd recommend it if you're looking for a thriller that will keep you reading.

Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver
Nick and Dara are sisters with less than a year in age between them. One night, there's a car accident that tears the girls apart. Something is bubbling under the surface, what came between the girls? What caused the accident? This is a thriller, but a very Point-Horror one. Not necessarily a bad thing, but this premise has been done so many times that I guessed the twist just after halfway. Lauren Oliver is a very skilled writer, and I adored the setting of the amusement park - but it's just not a new concept anymore and therefore was a bit predictable. Still very much worth a read, but don't expect anything groundbreaking.

And that's it! Spot anything you like? Read anything great lately?

Books I Read in April

Hi!

After only managing to finish 4 books in March, April was a much better month for me. I got through a lot of kindle books at night, and began to tackle my pile of physical books too. I finished 14, so let's get started!

Book Club
There were four books to choose from in the Rick O'Shea Book Club this month. The theme was YA (Young Adult), and the choices were all on the shortlist for the 2015  YA Book Prize. I had already read one of the books - Only Ever Yours by Louise O'Neill (my review here) and couldn't get my hands on another (A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond), so I chose these two:

The Ghosts of Heaven by Marcus Sedgwick
This is comprised of four stories, linked by the central theme of spirals. The idea is that spirals are everywhere and have been since the beginning of time - in staircases, in plants, in insects, in our fingerprints. Supposedly this can be read in any order (presumably to drive the point home that spirals have no beginning or end) but I read it in the order of publication and it was fine. The first story was set in caveman times and was more of a long poem, the second was in the middle ages and set around witch trials, the third was in an asylum in the 1920s, and the fourth was in space. It was thought provoking and good, but the maths stuff in the 4th story went over my head. 3 stars for the middle two stories, brilliant. They were reminiscent of The Crucible and Shutter Island respectively.

Half Bad by Sally Green
Nathan is a witch - half white, half black. Black witches are captured on sight and killed, so his life is in grave danger. He wants to find out more about Marcus, his Voldemort-esque father, so embarks on a journey to learn about him while trying to avoid capture on the way. When he reaches 17, he will receive three gifts that will allow him to become a fully-fledged witch - but who will give him his gifts? He hears of someone named Mercury who might be able to help, so decides to go and find her. Throw in a love interest and a host of secondary characters and you have a mediocre read that didn't leave me aching to buy the sequel.

Non-Fiction
I read two non-fiction books this month, both had a similar writing style.

The Great Beanie Baby Bubble by Zac Bissonnette
A book about beanie babies?! How interesting could that be?! - VERY! This was the true tale of the Willy Wonka-esque creator of Beanie Babies and how he basically turned a very simple idea into a multi-million dollar operation. The creator refused to give his side of the story - notoriously private Ty Warner doesn't even have a telephone number listed for his company. Zac Bissonnette travels all over America talking to people who spent their life savings on beanie babies that are now worthless. He also talks to people who worked for or know Ty Warner - and builds up a picture of a man who treated his workers generously while appearing to loathe fellow businesspeople. This was a brilliant read, so entertaining.

So You've Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson
I read about this on Breige's blog - to be honest, it took me a while to get through. I found a lot of it to be repetitive,but it was still a good look at the role social media has in instantly punishing people. Jon talks to people who have been publicly shamed in some way - be it for a picture posted online, or an ill-judged tweet - he follows their stories and finds out what happened to them afterwards. He also asks - can you ever recover from a public shaming? I was spoiled with Zac Bissonnette's engaging writing in the previous book, so this fell a little flat for me, but I still enjoyed it.

Trilogy
I heard about Blake Crouch's Wayward Pines trilogy when I heard that a new TV show starring Matt Dillon was coming to FOX TV in May. It looked like a cross between Twin Peaks and The Stepford Wives so I wanted to see what the books were like - they were fantastic and I read all three over a weekend.

Pines
FBI Agent Ethan Burke is on a mission to investigate the disappearance of two Federal Agents. He wakes on the side of the road in a strange town with bruises and cuts, and no memory of who he is. He is in the small town of Wayward Pines, and needs help. Unfortunately for Ethan, he soon begins to realise that once you arrive in Wayward Pines - there's no getting out.

Wayward
Now that Ethan knows the truth about the town, we see what happens when other residents begin to figure it out. There's a branch of residents who are trying to break away - Ethan is asked to infiltrate them, but can he do it? Will he use what he knows to help them escape? More importantly, is there any point in trying?

The Last Town
In a book reminiscent of Hugh Howey's Dust, we find out about the origins of the town and those in charge. Meanwhile, all hell has broken loose in town and everyone is in grave danger. There's only one thing that Ethan can think of that will save them - but will anyone go along with him?

Brilliant, loved it, definitely going to watch the series (May 14th, FOX, Sky 188 & UPC 126 - it's apparently the three books in one series).

Re-Reads

Under The Hawthorn Tree by Marita Conlon McKenna
Those of us over a certain age remember reading this in Primary School - who wasn't affected by the death of baby Bridget and the uncertainty over whether the children would survive the famine? It's amazing what stays with you over the years - I didn't remember the story 100% but I had always remembered the blood-letting of the cow and how sick that made me feel. It's easy to be detached from the events of the famine while we sit with takeaway numbers and full freezers to hand - it's humbling to read about events that took place in reality, events our ancestors survived. A must-read even if you've read it before. This took on a whole new meaning for me reading it as a Mum, the parents must have been so terrified for their children.

Fiction
I read six fiction books:

The Ice Twins by S.K Tremayne
This is a really creepy atmospheric thriller about a grieving couple who have lost one of their twin daughters. They are preparing to move into a lighthouse keeper's cottage inherited by the husband. The remaining twin begins to claim she is actually Lydia, the twin they thought they had buried. Have they made a huge mistake or is there something more sinister at play? The couple have other personal issues to overcome, neither of them are being 100% honest and the little girl is a great character. Recommended!

The Accidental Life of Greg Millar by Aimee Alexander
A look at how a couple cope when one of them is affected by mental illness. This follows the highs and lows of their relationship, and how they deal with it - this got a bit silly towards the end for me but it was a worthwhile read and not a theme I've come across too often lately.

The Crooked House by Christobel Kent
A young girl narrowly escapes a horrific killing spree one night that leaves most of her family dead and her father accused of the murders. Years later, she is living far away from her hometown under a different name - until her boyfriend has to perform best man duties for a friend holding her wedding there. Will the townsfolk remember her? Will she discover that someone knows what really happened the night she lost her family? A really good thriller - the "big reveal" let it down for me, it ended a bit abruptly, but the descriptive writing and the story up to that was brilliantly captivating.

Kiss a Girl in the Rain by Nancy Warren
The premise for this was great - a successful wealthy lawyer finds a bucket list he wrote when he was 12 and realises he hasn't completed half the things he wanted to do as a boy. He embarks on a journey to tick items off his list - and gets on a motorbike to ride cross-country. He gets about an hour in before he has an accident, and meets a stunning doctor (as you do) and despite the title being the uber-romantic "kiss a girl in the rain" (one of the items on his list), the two of them are at it like rabbits before you can say "What's up Doc?" rendering the whole thing pointless. Insta-love, utter tripe, horrible characters, predictable (there's a heavily pregnant character, so we know what's going to happen there). Waste of time.

A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing by Eimear McBride
This was physically one of the most challenging books I've ever read. Eimear doesn't write in traditional sentences - it's a "stream of consciousness" style that has been compared to Joyce (not a fan). It's a basic story - Holy Catholic Ireland, secrets, abuse, shame, more abuse, loss, death, grief, more secrets, more shame, more abuse, more death - it's very hard to read (physically and emotionally), and for that reason I think that when I found my rhythm I stayed with it and got completely sucked in to the character's head. It had me in tears more than once and I have thought about it several times since - worthwhile, but you need the energy for it. If you have experienced a loss recently approach with caution.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce
I dipped my toe into the world of Rachel Joyce last year with her book Perfect (review here), which I liked. This had been recommended to me several times since, so I thought it would be something easy to read after the Eimear McBride book. Harold gets a letter from his old friend Queenie to say Goodbye, as she he has cancer and can't be cured. He writes a short reply and walks to the postbox to post it. When he gets there, he decides to walk to the next one, and so on. Harold ends up on a 600 mile pilgrimage from the South of England to Scotland to "save" Queenie and let her know she has something to hang on for. Harold and Queenie aren't the real story here - Harold and his wife Maureen have a sad, strained marriage with both of them afraid to express their feelings and thoughts after some incidents that left them broken. Maureen goes on a journey as much as Harold - their relationship had me in tears! A lovely, lovely book and I'm currently tearing through Queenie's side of the story in Rachel's latest book, The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessey.

So that's it - as always, I'm open to recommendations, so please let me know if you're reading something good at the moment. Hopefully you'll discover something from this post that you will enjoy!

Why You Need To Vote Yes on May 22nd.

Hi!

The original title of this post was "Why You Should Vote No on May 22nd" - but I've had feedback from some people who felt uncomfortable sharing it because of that title, and others that were annoyed by it. So the message still stands, but I've changed the title of the post.

On May 22nd in Ireland, we're having a Referendum on whether or not LGBT people will be allowed to get married. Here's why you should vote no:

If you will be paying for their weddings from your own personal bank account.

That's it, really.

Otherwise, I implore you to vote yes. I wasn't even going to do a post on this but there's so much I want to say that I get muddled and flustered and annoyed - really annoyed.

I live in a very rural area in the Midlands. LGBT people don't make up a huge percentage of the population, but they are here, and for the most part I have always assumed that they're accepted - that might be incredibly naive of me, going by recent "revelations" from people I thought would know better.

On May 22nd, we are voting on whether or not a woman can marry a woman, or a man can marry a man. That's it. We're not voting on whether they can adopt a child or on their parenting abilities. Every single argument against this vote that I have heard in my locality has mentioned children. One argument included the sentence "but listen to me, if they get rights, they'll want more. They'll want to adopt and it's not right, children need a mother and a father." This was from someone who didn't raise his own children, by the way. I'll be sharing this post on facebook, so if you happen to see this and recognise yourself - tough. Shame on you. SHAME ON YOU.

Considering everyone is so concerned about children and about same sex parenting and traditional parenting - I'll say this. I was born to a married couple, and raised without a father. Two women raised me. My mother and my grandmother. My mother did not make good choices all the time. I had no male influence. I think I turned out alright, if you'll excuse the ego. I may not have gone to University and gotten a degree, and I am a little bit fat, but would a Dad have changed that? I'm not mean, I'm not a racist or a bigot, I'm married, and have three sons now. I think I do a good job with them. I don't get pissed, I don't do drugs, I don't abuse or neglect them. I think I'm a good wife. Being raised by two women didn't mean that I was afraid of men or I didn't know what to do around them or how to deal with them. I've never felt uncomfortable around men. Did I miss out on a Dad? Maybe. But I had a mother, and sometimes I feel like I missed out on a mother.

We are voting on marriage. Only marriage. On whether or not two people should be allowed to stand in front of their family and friends and tell them, and each other, how much they love and care for one another. In a society like the one we live in, so full of hatred and fear, so full of evil and badness, why on earth would you want to be responsible for denying someone of doing that?

Buy your badges at voteyesbadge.com.
All proceeds to the Marriage Equality campaign.

I often look at those wonder kids who can do things like play Mozart on the piano at 4. Or those people who, at aged 22, have done more in their short lifetimes than I've done with a ten year head start. I often think - "I have done nothing in my life worth anything except have my children". If you can identify with that feeling, here's your chance. Change lives. Change the course of history. Stand up and show people that we are not as backward and as ignorant as we are sometimes portrayed. You can be a part of something amazing, something that will lead to true equality - or you can be a part of destruction, pain, prejudice. Unless you are a member of the LGBT community, this isn't going to change anything for you personally. Nobody is going to knock on your front door and declare your marriage invalid or any less important just because others will be given the opportunity to marry. As far as I'm aware, my wedding ring still means something.

Stand up for your future gay sons and lesbian daughters/friends/nieces/grandchildren. Those who feel strongly that the definition of marriage should not be changed have already lost - because it has been changed. Women no longer have to give their jobs up after they marry. More and more women don't take their husbands names. Sometimes (like myself), we have a child first and then live together for a decade and THEN get married. Some people bring children from previous relationships into marriages. It has already changed. THE DEFINITION OF MARRIAGE HAS ALREADY CHANGED.

The people who are against this are really against it, and they will vote No. They will vote no, because they are afraid of change. Some will vote no because they don't understand what they're voting for. Please, please vote Yes on May 22nd and show solidarity with those who just want to be able to get married.

I'm all for balance and hearing both sides on most issues - but I can not wrap my head around the reason for denying two people a marriage. What effect does it have on you? NONE. Absolutely none. Think about it. NONE.

If your argument involves children, firstly go and tell all your childless married friends that their marriages are invalid. Then, think about all the children born to alcoholics, drug addicts, prisoners. Those children are already on the planet. They need help right now. The hypothetical children that some think will be handed out across the hatch at the HSE office along with the marriage certificates do not. If you feel that strongly about the safety and welfare of the children of Ireland, get off your arse and do some volunteer work for Childline, Barnardos, Temple Street, St. Vincent de Paul, or some of the other charities who would be only too grateful of your assistance.

This is your chance to sit back with that smug grin on your face at the end of May and think "I did that. I was part of that. I helped change history." Do the right thing - all you're voting on is whether or not two people who love each other should be allowed to get married. That is it.

Make sure you're registered to vote - check www.checktheregister.ie to find out if you're registered. You still have time to apply for a postal vote - the deadline is April 25th according to the website. Deadline to register for voting at your local polling station is May 5th.

Visit yesequality.ie for more information on the Yes Equality campaign.

Books I Read in March

Hi!

Oh lads. March was an awful month for reading. I got addicted to Dawson's Creek DVDs and I broke out a Dimensions cross stitch kit that I got for Christmas (this one) - there was no time at all for reading, unfortunately! I only managed to finish four books this month, a pitiful total for me. As usual, I managed to make time to buy more books - I bought at least 20, when I'm going to read them is anyone's guess!

Here are the ones I finished in March.

Book Club

Takashi Hiraide - The Guest Cat
A beautiful story translated from Japanese about a cat that comes into the life of a young American couple living in Japan. Slow moving and descriptive, I found it inherently boring and couldn't wait to finish it. I feel like a bit of a heathen because the writing was so pretty, but the main character drove me nuts. He never even bothered to give his wife a name, yet obsessed over someone else's cat. I know that there was a lot going on under the surface - it was probably more about the couple than the cat but my god, no. Didn't enjoy it at all.

David Sedaris - Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls
I've had this a while so I was delighted when it was picked as a book club read. The first half didn't win me over - sometimes I don't get David, and it takes me a while to just relax into his stories, but when I got to the "Obama!!" chapter it really took off for me. With great observations on people at airports, rants about how long it takes for official paperwork to be sorted out, and how hard it is to find a decent taxidermy owl - the second half of this book was very funny. It also contained this brilliant quote:

Books Sent to Review

Sheena Lambert - The Lake
I was lucky enough to be invited to read a couple of books this month - this being one of them. This is set in Ireland in the 70s, and surrounds the discovery of a body in a small rural town. It was really good and I hope that the author revisits the town and characters in the future. You can read my full review of The Lake here.

eBooks

Hugh Howey - Dust
The third and final installment in the Wool trilogy, Dust brings us back to where we were at the end of the first book. We're bang up to date with what's going on back at Juliette's Silo, and we know that something big is afoot. This was brilliant - fast paced, everything was tied up, and nobody underwent the major personality change that sometimes befalls characters in the third book of a trilogy. I thoroughly recommend this series - it's fantastic.

And that was it. Agh! I need to get back to reading and stop buying, my TBR pile is ridiculous at this stage.

I'm going to take this opportunity to check in with my reading challenge:

I'm trying not to double up on challenges, so that means I have 14/50 completed. I'm looking foward to seeing all those boxes go green!!

So - that's it for March, hopefully I'll be able to tear myself away from Dawson & Co long enough to make a dent in my ridiculous TBR pile during April.